iStocking Stuffers: The Best Apps for That iPad Under the Tree

2. The Elements: A Visual Exploration — Touch Press, $13.99 — The interactive counterpart to Theodore Gray’s coffee-table science book, this is a must-have app, despite its price. There’s a page for every element from hydrogen to ununoctium, each with historical background and gorgeous photos of objects made from that element. The objects are photographed from 360 degrees and can be viewed in 3D or spun about with a flick of the finger. The pièce de résistance: when you first open the app, it plays the entire Tom Lehrer song “The Elements.”

Wade Roush is the producer and host of the podcast Soonish and a contributing editor at Xconomy. Follow @soonishpodcast